In our 76th episode, we may be down two hosts but Nevik and Lanntonio hold the fort down. The pair then get down to business by discussing what they’ve been up to since the beginning of Season 2: Lanntonio has been spreading his special kind of plague with a Wormwood, and Nevik has been warming up to the wizard’s Firebird set playstyle!

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In this episode:

* We received a single, solitary email from listener Adam! We love to hear stories of triumph or tragedy from our listeners, so send in yours to Show@ShatteredSoulstone.com!

We posed the question on Twitter asking what you listen to while playing Diablo III. Be sure to follow our show account, @ShatteredStone, on Twitter for future Questions of the Show.

* Season Two has begun! Were you there waiting for the season to open up? That Friday night our in-game clan had an impressive turn-out and our 4th Musketeer, Lanntonio, even held an impromptu and unofficial Dead and Waiting. We would love to hear all about what you’ve been up to since season two started. So send us an email and tell us what amazing loot you’ve had drop!

* Hot on the heels of season two starting up Blizzard decided to tease us with a First Look of Patch 2.2, coming Soon™ to the PTR. Could this mean that season two will definitely be shorter than season one? Only time will tell, but let us know what has you most excited about the next content patch.

* We have long wondered how the Diablo team would monetize the game to supplement development and have theorized that we might see microtransactions come to the game. They are, but not for the EU/NA regions. We share our opinions on these developments and they might surprise you a bit!

* Our amazing audio editor Shawno found himself in the mood to create a saccharin-sweet Valentine dedicated to his wife and our very own Queen of Haiku Jen.

* It is with heavy hearts that we regret to inform you that we did not produce an Official Forum Thread Masterpiece theater (again) for this episode. Not to pull a guilt trip, but YOU have the power to not let this happen again! Your participation can ensure that this fun segment makes an appearance every show. Send your Official Forum Thread Masterpiece Theater audio segments (or humorous forum threads) to Show@ShatteredSoulstone.com.

* In case you were stuck at work and were unable to watch the Season Two Tavern Talk live you can now watch the video on demand. If you’re wondering if there was any ground-shattering news, there wasn’t but that does not mean that interesting insights were not shared.

* From the ashes of Wow Insider the Blizzard Watch has been born, complete with an expanded scope covering all of the Blizzard titles, including our beloved Diablo III. Matthew Rossi (you may remember that we’ve linked to some of his Diablo lore blog posts in the past) recently wrote a Know Your Lore article covering the Creation of the Diablo universe.

Unfortunately Nevik has been devoting almost every waking moment to grinding away in Season Two and forgot to find something to treat your ears to. Fret not! Our next episode will almost assuredly have a musical selection at the end of the show. Until then, enjoy some Red, Red Wine.

Have a Diablo III related comment, question, story, or rant that you’d like to share with all of us? Send your email, or short audio comment, to Show@ShatteredSoulstone.com.

In our 75th episode, our intrepid host finally returns from his podcasting hiatus! After much rejoicing we get down to business by discussing what we’ve been up to in-game: Breja met his season 1 goal, Jen had an absolute blast smashing things in Torment 3, and Nevik climbed the dizzying heights of the seasonal hardcore monk leaderboards!

Check out Audible for your FREE, no obligation 30 day trial including a free 1 credit book. Go to bit.ly/sspbook to start your trial today!

In this episode:

* We received a single, solitary email from listener Aldirik! We love to hear stories of triumph or tragedy from our listeners, so send yours to Show@ShatteredSoulstone.com!

We posed the question on Twitter asking what you have planed for season 2. Be sure to follow our show account, @ShatteredStone, on Twitter for future Questions of the Show.

* Season One is now officially in our rear-view mirrors and with season two right around the corner we wrap up our experiences in the very first season for Diablo III. Did you accomplish everything you had set out to do? We also share our plans, once again, for season two.

* As a preclude of what to expect in season two when it starts community manager Nevalistis will be wrangling together Wyatt Cheng, Travis Day, and Don Vu for another Tavern Talk on Tuesday, February 10th at 11:00am PST. They are likely to do a quick post-mortem on the first season and give insight on what they hope to accomplish with seasons going forward.

* Rumors spreading like wildfire is nothing new for the Diablo franchise and Blizzard Entertainment in general, but this most recent rumor gained a lot of traction and momentum on the Internets. Fact? Fiction? We give our opinions on the matter as well as our frustrations with reporting without credible sources. Blizzpro also posted an article where they debunked much of what spread from the blog post claiming to have insider information.

* It is with heavy hearts that we regret to inform you that we did not produce an Official Forum Thread Masterpiece theater (again) for this episode. Not to pull a guilt trip, but YOU have the power to not let this happen again! Your participation can ensure that this fun segment makes an appearance every show. Send your Official Forum Thread Masterpiece Theater audio segments (or humorous forum threads) to Show@ShatteredSoulstone.com.

Links for you to Visit:

* Want to know more about our very own Breja? Recently Dred and JCMonkey sat down and interviewed Breja on Scythe and Shield #17. That makes 3 of our 4 hosts that have been interviewed, we anticipate that Jen will make an appearance on their show in the near future ^^.

* Are you going to be rolling a wizard in season two? Our beloved host and #Wizard4Life Nevik is despite some anxiety over high level play demonstrated in a pair of videos created by wizard extraordinaire Jaetch. Be sure to check out how his Dual Hydras and Firebird Wizard videos fair in Greater Rift 45.

Usually we toss out a question to be answered on Twitter and include the responses on the next show. That’s all well and good, but not everyone tweets and occasionally a tweet may get left out. With as grandiose of an occasion as the beginning of Season 2 is, we figured we offer another way for our listeners to participate and have their voices heard.

Are you excited for February 13th? Will you be taking the plunge and diving head-first with seasonal play? Will you be trying a new class? Or will you dip your toe in to playing Hardcore mode for the very first time? Or will you stick with your existing characters and continue to fine-tune them and push higher in to the Greater Rift levels?

What are you plans, if any, for Season Two? Let us know by commenting below!

In this episode, Breja and Jen are back after chasing the double Treasure Goblins all around Sanctuary. Those little guys are fast!

Breja has hit Paragon 90 with his Seasonal character and found his first Ancient Item. Jen hit Paragon 100 (for the very first time ever) with her Seasonal character. Each talks about the awesome loot they are currently using.

Check out Audible for your FREE, no obligation 30 day trial including a free 1 credit book. Go to bit.ly/sspbook to start your trial today!

In this episode:

* We received one email with an entry to our “Diablo-ed up Christmas Carol” contest. There is still time for you to send in your own entry. Do it before the end of January 31, 2015. You can find the parody lyrics and more details about the contest in the show notes for Episode 72 of Shattered Soulstone. Send your email to Show@ShatteredSoulstone.com.

Our new Twitter question for the next show is:
“What is your primary goal for Season 2?” Let us know by tweeting your answer to @ShatteredStone.

Links for you to Visit:

* Tavern Talk will be live on Twitch on February 10. Wyatt Cheng, Travis Day, Don Vu, and Brandy “Nevalistis” Camel will take a retrospective look at Season 1 and then open up the floor to player questions.

In this episode, you will hear from both Breja and Jen. The goal of all the hosts is to start putting shows out on a more regular basis. Sometimes it will be all of us doing a show, and other times it will be one or two people.

In-game, Breja got his Hardcore Seasonal character up to Paragon 75 (despite being really busy with work). Jen got her Softcore Seasonal character, who is using a shield that looks like an octopus, up to Paragon 91. She also killed a great big Treasure Goblin named Snitchley.

Check out Audible for your FREE, no obligation 30 day trial including a free 1 credit book. Go to bit.ly/sspbook to start your trial today!

Hey, look! It’s another episode of Shattered Soulstone! Several attempts were made to record the show during the week of Christmas, but that just didn’t end up working out. The Skype gods smited us, over and over again. We didn’t give up, but we did learn why so many other podcasts chose not to try and record a show during that very busy week.

As usual, we started off by talking about what each of us had been up to in-game. Lantonnio has been playing D3 on console and also working on the ladder in D2. Breja has been “dabbling” in D3 Season 1. Jen has been running more bounties in D3 and working on a few last achievements in Season 1.

Check out Audible for your FREE, no obligation 30 day trial including a free 1 credit book. Go to bit.ly/sspbook to start your trial today!

In this episode:

* We got a lovely email from Rob, who started his email with “Greetings from the Netherlands!”

Originally, we planned to sing you all a little “Diablo-ed up” Christmas Carol (as our “Song of the Show”). But, then the recording of the show got delayed and it felt kind of late to be singing Christmassy songs after the holiday had ended. The good news is that we have turned the creative lyrics that Lantonnio wrote into contest that all of you can participate in!

Step one: Record yourself singing this “Diablo-ed” up parody of “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”:

You know Magda, and butcher, and
Mephisto, and baal,
andariel, and Duriel, and
belial and Azmodan
But do you recall
The most infamous demon of all

Diablo, the blood Horned Demon
had a very blody huge Horn
and if you ever saw it
you would even say it Rors.

All of the other Demons
used to laugh and call him names
They never let poor Diablo
play in any of the demonic games.

Then one Evil Christmas eve
Bielsabob came to say:
“Diablo with your Bloody Horn SO BIG,
won’t you Terrorize the world tonight!?”

Then all the Demons Hated him
as they shouted out with Fear,
Diablo the Bloody Horned Demon,
you’ll go down in Misery!

Step Two: Send that recording to the show Show@ShatteredSoulstone.com. Let us know if you want us to play it in an upcoming episode, or if you would prefer to keep that “off the air”. Keep in mind that we want you to record it “acapella”, (which means you don’t need to put any music in the background – just sing!)

Step Three: All of us at Shattered Soulstone will listen to, and evaluate, the entries. Somebody will win the prize of $20.00 in Battle.net. You must send in your entry before the end of January of 2015.

* Tyvalir popped into the Legendary Workshop 2.0 forum thread on Battle.net to say he’s been reading and following it. There’s some really cool ideas in there to check out. Got a good idea of your own? You might want to take a minute to add your thoughts to that forum thread.

* Nevalistis popped into the Trials – Why the GR System is Failing forum thread on Battle.net to say she is “taking notes”. If you have thoughts about the GR System, it may be worth it for you to go over and post those thoughts over there.

* If you missed it over the holidays, take a few seconds to watch Jaetch’s D3 Christmas Video:

* Associate Game Designer John Yang, Lead Technical Artist Julian Love, and Community Manager Brandy Camel did a Legendary Workshop Lifestream early in December. If you missed it, you can watch the recorded version now.

A New Segment Appears!

In previous episodes, all of us at Shattered Soulstone have gotten a little “off the rails” while we were discussing what we did in game. Of course, we want to share with our listeners what each of us has been doing while playing Diablo, Diablo 2 or Diablo 3.

However, all of us also play games outside of Diablo (Shocking, I know!) and also sometimes watch movies and read books. We figured our listeners do that too, and so, a new segment appears! Towards the end of this episode, and upcoming ones, each of us will take a moment to share what we have been up to in other Blizzard games, and non-Blizzard games, and also briefly talking about what we have been watching or reading.

…Unless, of course, y’all really don’t want to hear that kind of stuff. Let us know if you like it or if we should get rid of this new segment. Your opinions are important to us!

Have a Diablo III related comment, question, story, or rant that you’d like to share with all of us? Send your email, or short audio comment, to Show@ShatteredSoulstone.com.

In this episode, our intrepid host returns! After much rejoicing we get down to business by discussing what we’ve been up to in-game: Nevik rebuilt his lost monk stronger than ever, Breja has been slaying the work guardian, Lanntonio jumped back into Diablo II with the new ladder, and Jen ventures further and deeper in to seasonal play.

Check out Audible for your FREE, no obligation 30 day trial including a free 1 credit book. Go to bit.ly/sspbook to start your trial today!

In this episode:

* We unfortunately did not receive a single email! We love to hear stories of triumph or tragedy from our listeners, so keep them coming, really!

We posed the question on Twitter asking for your predictions on when Season 1 will end and when the PTR for Patch 2.1.2 would go live. Be sure to follow our show account, @ShatteredStone, on Twitter for future Questions of the Show.

* With the PTR for Patch 2.1.2 in full swing you would think that there wouldn’t be a lull in the Diablos for the hosts, but between the Garrisons of Draenor and the obscene community buff we found ourselves biding our time. That isn’t to say that we have not partaken in the PTR and did not have plenty of Diablo to discuss; with Season 2 Soon™ you could say that we are saving ourselves to go full bore when season 2 starts.

* It is with heavy hearts that we regret to inform you that we did not produce an Official Forum Thread Masterpiece theater (again) for this episode. Not to pull a guilt trip, but YOU have the power to not let this happen again! Your participation can ensure that this fun segment makes an appearance every show. Send your Official Forum Thread Masterpiece Theater audio segments (or humorous forum threads) to Show@ShatteredSoulstone.com.

Links for you to Visit:

* As mentioned, GrindEXP has closed their proverbial doors. Fret not! Dr. J Dredscythe hasn’t abandoned all of us and has decided to take his Diablo podcast, Scythe and Shield, independent and given the show a new shiny site. Dred has also picked up a familiar voice as a co-host and recruited JCMonkey to discuss all things Diablo.

* As mentioned in the show, greater rifts are receiving some significant tuning on how bonus damage scales above greater rift level 25. Just how significant? Check out this news post on Diablofans for a chart detailing the changes.

* Winter is actually happening in Northern California and for some reason Nevik was reminded of this video of someone attempting to jump into a pool. Spoiler: It’s not a good idea.

Song of the Show:

We might have gotten carried away just a little with all of the Garrisons of Draenor discussion, so much so that we actually featured the WoW parody song, All About My Base by Sharm.

OMG!We haz a show! In this episode, Lanntonio hosts the show for the first time, Breja and Jen share stories from Blizzcon, and Nevik was absent for the first time ever. (Don’t panic! He will be back!) This episode also includes the “Post Blizzcon Round Up” hosted by Nevik and including several awesome members of the Shattered Soulstone community.

Check out Audible for your FREE, no obligation 30 day trial including a free 1 credit book. Go to bit.ly/sspbook to start your trial today!

In this episode, we catch up with the going-ons from the past month. We then get down to business by discussing what we’ve been up to in-game: Jen Gurr’d her way up to 70, Nevik had a severe case of Destinitis, Breja is climbing the paragons with his seasonal puke doctor, and LANNTONIO HAS INTERNET ONCE AGAIN!

Check out Audible for your FREE, no obligation 30 day trial including a free 1 credit book. Go to bit.ly/sspbook to start your trial today!

In this episode:

* We read, and respond to, a solitary email we received from our wonderful EU ambassador, Master Do! We love to hear stories of triumph or tragedy from our listeners, so keep them coming, really!

* Has it really been over a month since our last show? Really? Did we, the show, turn three years old on October 12th? Really? Well despite our inconsistent regularity we are back to celebrate our 3rd anniversary and discuss what we’ve been up to since our last show.

* With Blizzcon 2014 just around the corner, we discuss the recent releases of the show schedule as well as the floor map inside the Anaheim Convention Center. There are some notable omissions in the schedule and a mysterious empty spot in Hall C where the Heroes of the Storm demo area was last year. What could this mean? We share our speculations but we would love to hear your thoughts! Shoot us an email or hit us up on Twitter.

* Thanks to our EU community ambassador, Master Do, we now have a new challenge for our listeners to participate in … if they dare! It personifies hardcore to the … well, uhm … core. Look for an official post detailing the rules and guidelines for this hardest of hardcore challenges.

* It is with heavy hearts that we regret to inform you that we did not produce an Official Forum Thread Masterpiece theater (again) for this episode. Not to pull a guilt trip, but YOU have the power to not let this happen again! Your participation can ensure that this fun segment makes an appearance every show. Send your Official Forum Thread Masterpiece Theater audio segments (or humorous forum threads) to Show@ShatteredSoulstone.com.

Links for you to Visit:

* Have you immersed yourself in the seasonal play? Wondering what your combined paragon level might look like at the conclusion of season one? Check out this combined paragon level calculator from D3BG.org.

* Do you like Diablo-themed parody songs? Firebird featuring vocals by Scooper and lyrics by Jaetch might ignite your desire to seek out a full Firebird set for the wizard.

* In case you’re not satisfied with only one Diablo-themed parody song, Dreamreaver23 has a pair of parodies, Hey There Kadala and Diablo Holy Grail, to sate your ravenous parody appetite.

* Are you heading to Anaheim for Blizzcon 2014 and spending a few extra days? Blizzard in conjunction with the Anaheim Convention Center has put together a site with deals to help save you some money should you seek out something to do outside of the Blizzcon festivities.

* In case the improbable happens and Josh steps up on the main stage during the opening ceremonies to announce the next Diablo III expansion, Eristhe has put together an amazing piece of concept art for a Shadowthief class. Maybe another class for Nevik to devote his life to?

* With Blizzcon just around the corner you can expect a bunch of Diablo-themed cosplay to pop up. Emmabellish and husband shared their Auriel and Imperius cosplay that you will see at Blizzcon 2014. Emmabellish also published a video tutorial on the fabric-covered foam armor created for the cosplay.

* Finally, did you know that our EU Community Ambassador, Master Do, is a co-host on a long-running French Diablo podcast? We didn’t either! If you’re fluent in French be sure to check out Diablo Zaures!

Song of the Show:

We’re back on the fan-made cover track with Rayden’s rendition of I am Justice from the Diablo III (chocolate) soundtrack. Starting off almost ethereal Rayden injects some luscious beats as the song matures. You can find more of Rayden’s work on YouTube and Soundcloud.

Have a Diablo III related comment, question, story, or rant that you’d like to share with all of us? Send your email, or short audio comment, to Show@ShatteredSoulstone.com.

In this episode, we are again FOUR STRONG! After sipping on some of the rainbow-colored friendship brew we get down to business by discussing what we’ve been up to in-game: Jen is Gurr’ng all over the place, Nevik is monkeying around on the seasonal hardcore solo monk leaderboards (phew, that was a mouthful), and Lanntonio couldn’t take it anymore and hopped in to hardcore seasons with spotty internet!

Check out Audible for your FREE, no obligation 30 day trial including a free 1 credit book. Go to bit.ly/sspbook to start your trial today!

In this episode:

* We read, and respond to, a mountain of emails we received from our wonderful listeners. This batch came to us from Rebur, Kageri Leblue, Simon, and an EXTRA SPECIAL one from Amy! We love to hear stories of triumph or tragedy from our listeners, so keep them coming, really!

* We posed the question on Twitter asking for your votes on the next class Jen should level to 70. Unfortunately we did not receive too many responses, but the victor was clear: puke doctor MONK**! Be sure to follow our show account, @ShatteredStone, on Twitter for future Questions of the Show.

** Okay, okay. It was actually the puke doctor ;_; but @JeremyTStevens did have an amazing vote.

* Patch 2.1 dropped in our laps immediately after episode 67 and we’ve already seen quite a few hotfixes that have changed the landscape of the game dramatically. Have you benefited from the drastically increased drop rates on horadic cache specific legendary items?

* It is with heavy hearts that we regret to inform you that we did not produce an Official Forum Thread Masterpiece theater for this episode. Not to pull a guilt trip, but YOU have the power to not let this happen again! Your participation can ensure that this fun segment makes an appearance every show. Send your Official Forum Thread Masterpiece Theater audio segments (or humorous forum threads) to Show@ShatteredSoulstone.com.

Links for you to Visit:

* Taken a break from Diablo III? Not sure of exactly what was added in Patch 2.1? DiabloFans has a wonderful Patch 2.1 Information Round-Up laying out all of the changes for you.

* Legendary gems might be the biggest addition to increasing player power and upgrading them might seems a bit arbitrary. Thankfully redditor Khaozxd but together a handy Legendary Gem Visual Upgrade Chart to help make the process a little easier to understand.

* If the visual chart to leveling up your legendary gems wasn’t enough YouTuber Meathead Mikhail posted a legendary gem guide to give you the low down on them.

* With Nevik fully embracing the way of the Sahptev faith it is only fitting that we bring to you an effective monk build, even in the higher torments. If you’re looking for a COOL monk build to play, check out FriendandMachine’s T5+ Cold Monk guide.

* Last, but not least, we mentioned that friend of the show Rebur (@Chaos5061) had a YouTube channel. Check out his let’s play’sh gameplay videos for Diablo III and Minecraft!

Song of the Show:

For this episode’s Song of the Show we bring to you another prose set to a musical beat. Diablo 3 Rap by Dan Bull is quite simply a lyrical masterpiece and hopefully we will see a Reaper of Souls themed piece from Dan Bull in the future. You can find more of Dan Bull’s work on his YouTube channel and follow him on Twitter and Facebook.

Have a Diablo III related comment, question, story, or rant that you’d like to share with all of us? Send your email, or short audio comment, to Show@ShatteredSoulstone.com.